12. Слово на Преображение Господне

(Said by Archbishop Philaret of Tver in the Tver Transfiguration Cathedral; published in the collections of 1820, 1821, 1844 and 1848) Go up the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the vision of His face was different; and His robe shone white. And behold two men spoke with Him, even Moses and Elijah. Luke 9:28–30. A high sight on Mount Tabor. A truly spectacle, worthy of being seen with admiration, as the Apostles saw, and remembered with triumph, as we remember now. It is not in vain that those who witnessed the great phenomena at Sinai and Horeb, it is not in vain that Moses and Elijah appear on Tabor. They will see more here than there. At Sinai and Horeb, the power and glory of God was revealed to people through the forces of visible nature: on Tabor, not only the Divinity appears to people, but humanity also appears in Divine glory. Moses trembled at Sinai (Heb. 12:21); Elijah complained about Horeb (1 Kings 19:14): in the Apostles on Tabor joy shines through the horror: “it is good for us to be here” (Matthew 17:4). Christians! Your heart is probably ready to say about the spectators of Tabor glory: it is truly good for them to be there! Happy they were able to be there! Well, if we tell you that the path to contemplation of the Tabor glory is not swallowed up by the abyss, not blocked by a wall, not overgrown with thorns, not forgotten, not lost, but even now is indicated by those who know who wish (It is not difficult to understand that this is said about the spiritual path: for by a bodily procession, of course, one cannot ascend to spiritual visions and Divine revelations). In fact, why does the Evangelist, starting to depict the glorious Transfiguration of the Lord, first of all draw his and our attention to the prayer: “go up to the mountain to pray”? Why else, as if not relying on the insight of some readers and listeners of the Gospel and fearing that they will displeasedly understand the importance of the noticed circumstance, does he immediately repeat that the Transfiguration of the Lord happened during prayer: “it happened while I was praying”? Why else, if not to show us in prayer the path to the light of Tabor, the key of spiritual mysteries, the power of Divine revelations? If the God-wise Evangelist found it so necessary to combine the thought of prayer with the image of the glory of Tabor, then of course it would not be superfluous for us, Christians, to combine at least some small reflection on the power and effect of prayer with the memory of the glorious Transfiguration of the Lord. Although it must be hoped that in this house of prayer there is no one who does not have more or less knowledge of the power and effect of prayer, however, for thorough knowledge, let it be allowed to enter into research on this subject, as if it were unknown. So, does any prayer have any effect? – This question cannot remain unresolved for long. It is resolved by the general meaning of the human race, for everyone, from a Christian enlightened by the pure light of faith to a pagan darkened by gross superstition, all people recognize the duty to pray, and the majority and best part of people actually fulfill this duty, although not in the same way and not with the same success; but why would one establish and perform prayer if one did not recognize any power in it and did not expect any action from it? If someone asks how the pagans can be witnesses to the power of prayer, when they, not having true reverence for God, therefore do not have true prayer, we will ask again: how do they have any kind of prayer? No matter how you try to explain, no matter how imperfect, the phenomenon of prayer, the power of prayer must always be the basis for its origin. Pagans also pray, of course, or because God, who abandons creation but does not abandon it, leaves in their darkened hearts some sparks of His light, which “enlightens every man who comes into the world,” and which “darkness does not embrace” (John 1:9, 5), which even in the flesh arouses a certain feeling of spiritual need, gives a certain premonition about the possibility of its satisfaction, and thus encourages one to cry out to the unknown God for unknown help - or because from the very cronyism of sensuality, in which paganism was mired, sometimes certain inspired souls arose, which, aware of the baseness and impurity of this state, with a sincere desire and effort to know the powers of the spiritual world, achieved some communion with them, and then taught others to achieve the same with a sincere and strong desire, that is, prayer - or, finally, because from those times when there was true knowledge of God throughout the entire human race, and consequently, the power and reality of true prayer was known throughout the entire human race, despite the subsequent damage to the worship of God, there remained an indelible universal confidence both about the necessity of the worship of God itself, and about the benefits of prayer, that is, about its power and reality. Unfortunately, there is a philosophy (of the kind that the Apostle Paul calls philosophy “according to the elements of the world and vain flattery”) (Col. 2:8), which, generally neglecting the testimony of the human race, thinks to give the most reliable testimony of the truth to itself. It teaches that just as the whole world is bound by the bonds of causes and consequences, in which free beings are more or less entangled, then when a person prays, for example, for the abundance of the fruits of the earth, and this abundance depends on the goodness of the air, the goodness of the air from the action and influence of the sun, earth and water, and their action from the laws of the world, once established by its Creator and always constantly and necessarily acting, he prays either uselessly, or perhaps only for his own humility and submission before the power and majesty of the Creator. Let us note that this kind of wisdom cannot take away from prayer at least the effect that it forms in a person the quality of humility before God - and this is no longer an unimportant and saving action. But this is not enough. Ask, if you meet, students of this wisdom, what is better: a skillful machine or a living, intelligent, free creature, and a well-ordered society of such creatures? What is more sublime: the artist who built the machine and watches its movements, or the father who gave birth to children and by upbringing molds them into his own image, and the king who founded the kingdom of the free and governs them as they want to be governed, only without violating his wise and good intentions? The choice here is not difficult, and there is no need to expect an answer. Ask them again: why would they rather see a perfect work in the creation of the All-Perfect Creator than the well-ordered kingdom of the all-wise King and the great house of the All-Good Father? Why do they more readily imagine God as the Artist of the world than as the King of heaven and earth and the Father of spirits? We will leave them to seek the answer to this in their conscience, but for our present discussion it is enough that if God is not only our Creator, but also the King and Father, then there is no doubt that the children will not call on the Father in vain, and the King will not block the hearing from the sons of the Kingdom. And is it surprising if a child-loving Father, in satisfaction of the good, or at least innocent, desire of his son, stops or changes the movement of the machine that he has arranged? So it is not surprising if the All-Good Heavenly Father, through the prayer of his earthly children, gives a new, extraordinary direction to nature, governed by the law of necessity. With this analogy, the Truth itself and the Word itself explain the effect of prayer: “Even though you are evil, you know how to give good things to your children: how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him” (Matthew 7:11). Some Christians, who know and practice the work of prayer more externally, by ritual, than internally, by spirit, without doubting the vague thought that prayer can be strong and effective, are perplexed or completely mistaken in applying this thought to themselves and their prayer. Praying repeatedly, and not seeing 118 the tangible consequences of their prayer either in themselves or around themselves, instead of doubting the truth and dignity of their prayers, they receive in the spirit of laziness and self-delusion the inhaled thought that strong and effective prayer is, perhaps, a special gift of grace, provided only for some of God’s chosen ones and for some only in extraordinary cases. For such, let us say without hesitation that there is no person whose prayer could not become strong if he firmly and sincerely, with faith and trust in God, desires it; and there is no thing in which prayer cannot become valid, unless the object of prayer is contrary to the wisdom and goodness of God and the good of the one praying. Much has been said: we hope, however, that we will not deceive true lovers of prayer. Imagine a person who, by the power of prayer, closes and opens the sky to stop and bring down the rain; commands that a handful of flour and a little oil be sufficient to feed several people, for several months, and even, perhaps, for more than one year - and this is fulfilled; blows on a dead person, and he is resurrected; brings fire down from heaven to consume the sacrifice and the altar immersed in water. – What could seem more extraordinary than the sowing power of prayer? But it seems so only to a person who does not know spiritual power; but for one who knows this, it is the work of a person like us. This is not my opinion, but the teaching of the Apostles. The Apostle James, teaching us to “pray for one another,” in conviction of this he says that “the prayer of a righteous man can do much,” and this common instruction and convincing thought is confirmed by the example of an extraordinary man whom we have now depicted and whom he calls a man similar to us: “Elijah the man was not subservient to us, and he prayed with a prayer, so that it would not rain; and thou shalt not rain on the earth three years and six months: and again prayed; and the heavens gave rain, and the earth grew its fruit” (James 5:16-18). Why is it said here that this miracle-working Elijah was “subservient to us”? - Precisely so that, considering him an extraordinary person, we do not become lazy in imitating him and achieving strength in prayer. If, despite this, imitating the Prophet in prayer seems to you a lot beyond your mediocrity and an unattainable height; then imagine yourself, whatever you wish, less than a prophet, imagine yourself at least less than Christians, although only pagans: and in this case, I affirm that your prayer can be strong and valid. She can - what more? - can make you true Christians from pagans; can lead you into true knowledge of God and reverence for God, even if it is unknown to you, and if there is no person close to you who could guide you to that, she will open heaven and send down to you an Angel from here who will guide you. But am I not dreaming, carried away by the desire to arouse you to strong and real prayer? No, brothers and prayer workers, I’m all talking about what has actually already happened, and therefore can happen again, and what our sacred books testify to. Known from the book of the Acts of the Apostles (X), Cornelius, the centurion of the Roman army, was a pagan; it is not known whether he knew “the one God” (John 17:3), but it is true that he did not know, “Whom God sent,” “Jesus Christ” (John 17:3); but he did as much good as he knew, feared and constantly called on God, although unknown: “revere and fear God with all your household, do alms to many people, and pray to God always." Christ, the Holy Spirit, even before baptism, was poured out on Cornelius. Seek, if you want, invent in your thoughts a thing that would seem inaccessible to the power of prayer - we do not despair, in the light of the word of God, to show you that it is accessible and achievable, even if it even seems impossible. Imagine, for example, an entire people irritating God with a grave crime; add that God is already expressing His righteous will to destroy this people, and that in these terrible moments there is only one person left in the world who can offer prayer for this people, almost already consumed by hell. Don't you think that it is no longer possible to save this people? The experience of Moses showed that this is also possible. The people of Israel, immediately after the glorious Epiphany and the law of Sinai, suddenly fall into idolatry. Moses stands before God on the mountain. Listen and understand what wondrous words the Lord spoke to Moses at this time: “And now forsake Me, and being angry with me, I will consume them” (Ex. 32:10). O Lord God of spirits and all flesh! can this Thy servant, who is strong only by Thy power, be able to prevent the fulfillment of Thy will? Leave Me, he says, I want to show My righteous anger, I want to destroy this people; but you hold me back. “Leave Me, and enraged with anger at me, I will consume them.” What else? Even then the prayer book does not abandon God, but intensifies the prayer, and the anger of the invincible Almighty gives way to the power of the prayer of mortal man. “And the Lord had mercy on the evil he said he would do to his people” (Ex. 32:14). Measure here, if you can, the miraculous power of prayer, and find after this what it could not accomplish for salvation! In order to see again with what convenience the key of prayer opens spiritual and Divine treasures, let us look again to Tabor, to whom we tried to approach with real reflections. Let us once again take a diligent look at the image of the Transfiguration of the Lord by the Evangelist: “Go up to the mountain to pray. And as he prayed, he saw His face differently” (Luke 9:28–29), and so on. If we dare to guess from these features the heartfelt secret of the Divine Jesus: it seems that on the way to Tabor, His direct and immediate intention was not transfiguration, but simply a prayer: “go up to the mountain to pray.” It seems that even on the mountain itself, at the very moments of transfiguration, His own goal of action was only prayer: “there was always prayer.” The conjecture that the subject of this Savior’s prayer should have been the preparation of Himself and His disciples for His approaching suffering and death on the cross, about which He revealed to His disciples not long before (Luke 9:22), and about which at the very time of the Transfiguration Moses and Elijah talked with Him (Luke 9:31), will not seem incredible to anyone who reflects. How was glory revealed in the midst of prayer for suffering? - Like a natural, so to speak, flower and fruit of the abundant living power of prayer. The spirit of prayer, merging with the Spirit of God, filled the soul of Jesus with light; the excess of this light, not being contained in the soul, spilled onto the body - and shone in the face; not fitting here either, it shone and transformed the very clothes; expanding even further, it embraced the souls of the Apostles - and was reflected in Peter’s exclamation: “It is good for us to be here” (Matthew 17:4); went into the region of the inner world - and attracted Moses and Elijah from there; reached the very depths of the Heavenly Father - and moved His love to a solemn testimony about the beloved: “This is My beloved Son” (Matthew 17:5). Oh, the miracle of prayer, which in one action embraces heaven, and earth, and the Divinity itself! - Let no one say that this example of prayer does not apply to us, as the work of the God-man. It also applies to us Christians; for in us, too, although not to the same degree, it must be accomplished as in Christ. “Let this be wise in you,” teaches the Apostle, “even in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). It’s time to finally ask: why do so many prayers remain without effect, if any prayer can be so strong and valid? For for this purpose, especially the question, everything that has been said so far has been said. Let us distinguish here one case when a prayer seems unfulfilled, while it is fulfilled in an unexpected and supreme way. So, Paul “begged the Lord three times” that the “wicked man of the flesh” would depart from him, but God answered him: “My grace is sufficient for you; For My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:8-9). Temptation has not ceased, but even more wondrous victory has been granted over ongoing temptation. If we exclude cases like this, then all unsuccessful prayers are explained by a brief Apostolic saying: “You desire, and do not mean, do not ask; you ask and do not receive, you ask evilly, but you depend on your desires” (James 4:2-3). Our prayers are fruitless either because they are not diligent and persistent petitions, which would come from the depths of the soul, and in which the whole soul would be poured out, but only weak desires, which we utter without exciting the spirit, and we think that they should be fulfilled by themselves; or because our requests are not pure and evil, that we ask for what is harmful and not useful for our soul, or we ask not for the glory of God, but to satisfy our carnal and selfish desires. Pray, Christian, with strong prayer, with all the strength of your soul, diligent and persistent prayer, good and pure prayer, and if you do not find this in yourself, pray for prayer itself, and through prayer you will first acquire true and real prayer, then this will conquer everything with you, and will gain everything for you, will lead you to Tabor, or Tabor will open in you; Heaven will bring down into your soul, and will lift up your soul to Heaven. Amen. In collection 1820 and 1821 followed by: “no...” You might be interested in: